Celluloid : the film to-day (1931)

CINEMA AND EDUCATION 63 attempt at co-ordination or employing the full resources of the cinema in any of the countries so far embarked on educational film production. For example, many educational pictures available to schools and other places of teaching are merely superficially descriptive instead of being analytic in treatment. Probably this is due to the failure on the part of authoritative bodies to make clear to producers the high standard required, the result being bad technique as well as the production of numerous incompetent films. This criticism applies forcibly in England, where relations between educational authorities and the cinema have not been happily arranged. It is not unusual to find cameramen sent out at random to shoot material without proper directorial supervision, whilst frequently producers look after administrative work when the administrators themselves are perhaps editing. It is obviously most necessary for the production side of the educational cinema to reach a pitch of efficiency before anything else can be done. The French Government Film Commission realized some years ago the necessity for special cinematic technique and were fortunate in securing the services of such an admirable director as Benoit-Levy, who devoted his organization to the development of the technique required for agricultural films. Moreover, the intelligent and sympathetic attitude adopted by the French Press to documentary and cultural cinema has greatly aided matters in that country. I have already mentioned the production activities of the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau in propaganda films of Canadian scenery. The same